STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable.
Not Applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to revolutionizing the art of horseshoeing. More particularly, the invention relates to forming horseshoes in place, i.e. in situ. More broadly, the invention relates to the addition to hoofs of various animals needing hoof protection. More particularly, the invention provides the benefits of shoeing to horses and other animals in an especially convenient and effective manner. The invention provides, for example, with respect to horseshoes, for the shoeing of horses with a resin composition that sets up instantly in situ on the horse""s hoof in the near form of a horseshoe and is then trimmed to a perfect shape. The invention enables the periodic renewal of horseshoes with a minimum of effort, readily affords local variation in shoe thickness to compensate for hoof irregularities, and ensures an effective protection for the horse""s hoof. The invention further relates to providing horseshoes that are locally flexible formed on the hoof or applied to the hoof pre-formed with variations in flexibility built into the shoe structure by having a locus of flexing at one or more locations as an alternative to or in alternating relation with built-up horseshoe sections. The invention further relates to providing a locus of flexing in a horseshoe and the formation of shoes having a horseshoe pattern comprising a plurality of resin portion deposits spaced from each other across an interruption between adjacent resin portions arranged in a horseshoe pattern, the several resin portions defining a reduced thickness in the horseshoe at a location where flexibility is desired. The resin portions can be formed in situ or formed in a connected relation away from the hoof, such as with additional resin portions connecting the primary resin portions as a web between relatively thicker primary resin portions, the thinner regions providing a locus of flexibility, and the thus arranged portions attached to the hoof as an integral horseshoe.
2. Description of the Related Art
Horseshoes have been fabricated of metals for centuries and more recently from synthetic materials, but always by prefabricating the shoe and then applying the prefabricated shoe onto the horse""s hoof. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,861 to Sigafos where a kit for horseshoeing is described. The problems of prefabricated horseshoes, whether of metal or plastic is that the shape of the hoof to be shod varies making the application of a prefabricated shoe a process of trial and error, and a highly skilled and therefore expensive-to-obtain art. Also, some hoofs need a thicker section in one place than in another. It is economically infeasible to market or inventory all the possibilities that may be encountered. A number of applications for horseshoes, however, will respond to a standardized size and shape shoe, particularly where flexibility in shoe movement is desired. The present invention provides both in-situ formed and preformed shoes with flexibility features.
What is needed is a more flexible approach, one that allows customizing of the shoes to the hoof on site without onerous or costly effort. It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an in situ shoeing method and product. It is a further object to provide a system for the creation on the hoof itself of the shoe. It is a further object to reduce inventory requirement to merely a variously applicable resin system that is applied to the hoof in custom fashion without custom inventory. A further object of the invention is to deposit onto a prepared hoof shoeing surface an unshaped resin mass, that may comprise an intimate admixture of reactive resin components, forming the mass into in a profile approximating the intended shoe, that is malleable albeit non-flowing when applied, and modifiable to the desired exact contour to achieve any thickness, any thickness variation along the extent of the shoe, and of course a precise registration of the deposited resin system with the hoof contour without difficult bending of strong, prefabricated materials. It is a still further object to provide a mass resin system typically comprising A and B sides of a resin in the form of reactive thermosetting resin precursors, e.g. comprising urethane resin precursors, that is thixatroped to have a consistency allowing the resin during reaction to a formed, cured or hardened to a state to stand on the hoof shoeing surface without excessive flow off the surface. A further object is the provision of an animal or horse shoe of an intended profile comprising the resin mass in substantially the intended profile in situ on a horse hoof surface, more particularly a synthetic organic resin horseshoe formed in situ on a horse hoof surface, and the combination of a horse having a hoof, and a synthetic organic resin horseshoe attached to said hoof, the horseshoe having been preformed with local variations in flexibility or formed in situ from the resin mass on the horse hoof. Other objects include: forming while shoeing a moisture barrier on the hoof surface, through the adhesion of the applied resin mass to the hoof surface material; providing a repair system for shoed hooves by addition of more resin mass where wear has occurred, which is effective because the resin mass in many embodiments will adhere to its previously cured self; preventing the horse from pulling a shoe, i.e. removing a shoe on an adjacent hoof with another hoof through a purchase gained at the so-called lip protruding rearwardly from the conventional horseshoe by eliminating the lip protrusion altogether with careful tailoring of the shoe so as to be narrow on the hoof; equalizing pressure on the hoof all about the hoof surface as an improvement over the use of nails which become as many as seven or more points of pressure; enabling shoeing of horses whose hooves are worn too much to tolerate nailing, but will accept a shoe formed in situ; adding spring to the horse""s step through the resiliency of the in-situ-formed horseshoe, the profile of which can be modified to add a spring function; improving traction by customizing the shoe bottom surface to the anticipated terrain; adding color at the shoe, bodily or in accents, or other optical effects including patterns and glitter to reflect the stable that trained the horse, or a cause or event; and to have or provide a layer of resiliency at the hoof for comfort and longevity of the horse.
These and other objects of the invention to become apparent hereinafter are realized in the method for building a horseshoe of an intended shape in situ, including cleaning the surface of the shoe area of horse hoof of debris, shaping a temporarily generally malleable mass of resin on the cleaned hoof surface into generally a horseshoe-shape, and locally modifying the exposed surfaces of the horseshoe mass to conform to the final intended horseshoe shape on the shoe area surface after general malleability in the resin is lost, and the horseshoe product of the method.
In this and like embodiments, typically, the resin selected is one that self-adheres to the shoe area surface, and there is included also precoating the shoe area surface under the mass with a thin layer of the mass or similar resin having less than 25% of the depth of the intended horseshoe shape, selecting as the resin a reaction product of thermosetting resin precursors, selecting as the resin precursors thermosetting urethane resin precursors.
In a further embodiment, the invention provides a method for building a horseshoe of an intended shape in situ, including cleaning the surface of the shoe area of horse hoof of debris, applying a preshaped mass of resin on the cleaned hoof surface in generally a horseshoe-shape, and precoating the surface with a resin acting to bond the shaped mass to the surface before application of the shaped mass, and the product of the method.
In this and like embodiments, typically, the method further includes locally reshaping the horseshoe mass to conform to the intended horseshoe shape on the shoe area surface, selecting as the precoating resin the same resin as the shaped mass resin.
The invention further provides in combination, the indicated preshaped mass a resin adhesive adhering the mass of resin to the surface, the resin adhesive being distributed on the surface.
In a further embodiment, the invention provides a method for building a horseshoe of an intended shape in situ, including cleaning the surface of the shoe area of a horse hoof of debris, collecting an unconfined malleable resin mass beyond the shoe area surface, applying the mass onto the cleaned hoof surface in a generally horseshoe-shaped form, and then locally modifying the exposed surfaces of the horseshoe mass to conform to the final intended horseshoe shape on the shoe area surface.
In this and like embodiments, typically, the method further includes selecting as the resin mass a mass that self-adheres to the shoe area surface, and selecting as the resin mass a mass comprising a mixture of thermosetting resin precursors, such as thermosetting urethane resin precursors.
In a further embodiment, the invention provides a method for building an animal shoe of an intended shape in situ, including cleaning the surface of the shoe area of debris, depositing onto the cleaned hoof surface a flowable shoe preform comprising a resin mass having a depth and width of profile generally conforming to the intended shoe shape in the shoe area surface adhering relation, reducing the mass to a non-flowable state to retain substantially all the mixture on the shoe area surface, and then locally mechanically modifying the mass to modify its profile to conform to the final intended shoe shape on the shoe area surface.
As in previous embodiments, in this and like embodiments, typically, the method includes selecting as the mass a mass that self-adheres to the shoe area surface, selecting as the mass a mass that comprises reactive resin precursors in intimate admixture in a common vessel, the mass being reduced to a nonflowable state by reaction of the precursors, such as thermosetting resin precursors, e.g. thermosetting urethane resin precursors such as diphenylmethane diisocyanate, polyol, a thixatroping amine, such as a thixatroping primary or secondary amine, like meta xylene diamine.
The invention further includes the products of the foregoing methods.
In a further embodiment, there is provided a method for building a horseshoe in situ including cleaning the surface of the shoe area of horse hoof of debris, depositing onto the cleaned hoof surface a flowable horseshoe perform comprising an intimate curable mixture of urethane resin precursors comprising diphenylmethane diisocyanate and a polyoxyproplyene oxide polyol and meta xylene diamine at a depth and width profile greater than the intended horseshoe shape at a viscosity to remain on the surface, curing the mixture to a non-flowable mass in less than one minute, and shaping the horseshoe preform to reduce its profile to a final intended horseshoe shape on the surface, and the product thereof.
Other products of the invention include a horseshoe of an intended profile, the horseshoe comprising a resin mass formed in substantially the intended profile in situ on a horse hoof surface, suitably formed of a synthetic organic resin, the combination of a horse having a hoof, and a synthetic organic resin horseshoe attached to the hoof, the horseshoe having been formed in situ on the horse hoof, and the combination of: a horse having a hoof, and a synthetic organic resin horseshoe attached to the hoof, the horseshoe having been formed in situ on the horse hoof from a resin mass deposited on the hoof at a depth and width profile approximating the intended horseshoe shape.
In a further aspect, the invention provides a method of building a horseshoe of an intended shape in situ, including cleaning the surface of the shoe area of horse hoof of debris, applying a non-shoe shaped formless mass of resin to the cleaned shoe area surface as a series of spaced individual resin portions arranged as an interrupted shoe-shape, hardening the resin portions in place, and locally modifying the exposed surfaces of the deposits to conform to the final intended horseshoe shape.
The invention further provides a method of building a flexible horseshoe for attachment to a hoof surface, the horseshoe having a locus of flexing, including cleaning the surface of the shoe area of horse hoof of debris, arranging successive non-shoe shaped formless resin portions as a series of spaced individual resin portions arranged as a shoe-shape with interruptions between adjacent resin portions, the shoe shape having a locus of flexing at one or more of said interruptions, hardening said resin portions, locally modifying the exposed surfaces of said portions to conform to a horseshoe shape, and attaching said horseshoe shape to said hoof.
In these and like embodiments, typically, the deposits each have an individual given vertical extent, and there is included also connecting adjacent ones of the deposits with additional resin portions of lesser vertical extent than the given vertical extents of the adjacent deposits, selecting as the resin one that self-adheres to the shoe area surface, precoating the shoe area surface under the shapeable mass with a thin layer of the mass having less than 25% of the depth of the intended horseshoe shape, selecting as the resin a reaction product of thermosetting resin precursors, and selecting as the resin precursors thermosetting urethane resin precursors.
In its product aspects, the invention provides the products of the foregoing methods, and a flexible horseshoe having a locus of flexing, the horseshoe comprising a generally horseshoe-shaped series of resin portions deposited onto a horse shoe area and hardened in situ, the resin portions being spaced from each other across intervening interruptions, at least one of the interruptions defining a locus of flexing in the horseshoe.
In these and like embodiments, typically, the deposited resin portions each have an individual given vertical extent, and there is included also connected adjacent ones of the deposits with additional resin portions of lesser vertical extent than the given vertical extents of the adjacent deposits.
In a further embodiment there is provided a flexible horseshoe having a locus of flexing, the horseshoe comprising a generally horseshoe-shaped series of interconnected resin portions fixed onto a horse shoe area, the resin portions being spaced from each other across intervening interruptions, at least one of the interruptions defining a locus of flexing in the horseshoe.
Typically, in this and like embodiments, the locus of flexing is transverse to the longitudinal axis of the horseshoe and located within the front, rear or between the front and rear thirds of the horseshoe, or in the rear third of the horseshoe and generally parallel with the longitudinal axis of the horseshoe.
The invention thus provides a horseshoe of an intended profile, the horseshoe comprising a resin mass formed from an unshaped mass into substantially the intended profile in situ on a horse hoof surface, a synthetic organic resin horseshoe from an unshaped resin mass in situ on a horse hoof surface, the combination of a horse having a hoof, and a synthetic organic resin horseshoe attached to the hoof, the horseshoe having been formed from an unshaped resin mass in situ on the horse hoof, the combination of a horse having a hoof, and a synthetic organic resin horseshoe attached to the hoof, the horseshoe having been formed in situ on the horse hoof from an unshaped resin mass deposited on the hoof at a depth and width profile approximating the intended horseshoe shape. The present hoofs can comprises synthetic organic resin hardened in situ on a hoof, wherein the resin exhibits an optical effect other than its natural appearance.
Still further, the invention provides a method of protecting a horse hoof from moisture accumulation between shoe and hoof, including cleaning the hoof surface of debris and forming on the cleaned hoof a horseshoe from an unshaped adherent resin mass that adheres to the hoof surface in moisture excluding relation, a method of protecting a horse hoof from uneven pressure on the hoof from horseshoe, including clearing from the hoof all nails and previous shoe, and forming on the cleaned hoof a horseshoe from an unshaped adherent resin mass that adheres to the hoof surface in shoe-forming relation, a method of maintaining a horse hoof shoe against wearing from an intended shape, including cleaning the shoe surface of debris, and restoring the intended shape to the shoe through the added application of an adherent resin mass, and a method of increasing the stepping comfort of a horse, including providing and maintaining as the horse hoof shoe a shoe comprising a resin having a resilience to be reduced temporarily in vertical profile when the horse puts its weight upon the shoe.